A Call For Myopic Justice

There are two related editorials from the New York Daily News of June 9th that are very interesting in what they present to the public as the opinion of the New York Daily News about law breakers and justice.

The first one is about Paris "I'm a spoiled rotten, whiny, baby with more money than brains" Hilton and her histrionics about being punished for repeatedly breaking the law and thumbing her nose at the court, the judge and, for that matter, the rest of us who are law abiding citizens.

The second editorial chastises the senators who defeated the, hopefully, now defunct immigration reform bill that was up for a vote in congress.

How are they related? Well, on the one hand the NY Daily News gleefully applauds the decision of Judge Michael Sauer to make sure Hilton is punished as per his instructions and not the sheriffs misinterpretation of same.

"Many hearty bravos to Judge Michael Sauer, who returned Hilton to a cell for violating probation on a DWI-related conviction. Praise also for L.A. Prosecutor Rocky Delgadillo, who dragged her back to court, declaring: "We cannot tolerate a two-tiered jail system where the rich and the powerful receive special treatment." Indeed, we can't. Even if the inmate in question goes on crying jags and mourns for the company of her Chihuahua or newt or whatever creature she had been toting as a fashion accessory."

Yet the first two paragraphs in the next editorial state:

Shame on the craven senators who torpedoed an immigration reform measure that is good for America's present and future. Good for those 12 million undocumented souls who are settled here. Good for the national economy. Good - to some degree, anyway - for the security of a homeland whose border patrol operations have been markedly insufficient.

Rather than get behind a bill that addressed the reality of the country's illegal population as well as our need for foreign workers, skilled and unskilled, too many senators picked at this provision and that. Guiltiest were Republicans who bent to, or led, anti-immigrant fervor on the right.

It is obvious, according to the Daily News, that if you are a rich, spoiled, and whiny brat whose only talent seems to be the willingness to expose yourself, your stupidity, and lack of class to the general public at any given time then you should have to pay the consequences for your actions. I have to admit that I agree with this outlook 100 percent. Simply put: "Do the crime, do the time".

But then to go on to state that it is "good for 12 million undocumented (read illegal) aliens" to be rewarded for breaking the law only goes to show how out of touch with reality the editorial board of the Daily News really is.

The claim made by the Daily News that this bill is "Good for the national economy" is pure B***S***. How is it good? The illegals don't pay taxes - local, state, or federal, don't contribute to social security, send hard cash out of the country, help to drain the local educational and health care resources and when involved in a crime, violent or otherwise, flee back across the border to avoid prosecution.

To state that this same bill is "Good - to some degree, anyway - for the security of a homeland whose border patrol operations have been markedly insufficient." is only true if you use it to show just how lax and understaffed our border patrol really is. The fact that many of the illegals are repeat offenders and re-cross the border almost as soon as they are released only serves to show that we need more agents, stricter laws, and judges who are not afraid to enforce those laws and sentences on the law-breakers. If we stick them in a non-air conditioned, four to a two-man cell with no amenities and make them work for their keep for five or six years then perhaps we can get a handle on this problem.

I have no problem with anyone coming to this country for a better life, to improve their lives for themselves or their families. Many of our parents, grandparents or great-grandparents did the same thing though legal immigration. However, to start off this "better life" by not just breaking the law but flouting it in the worst way and then crying that you should be rewarded for your criminal behavior by being allowed to stay in this country and reap the rewards of your lawbreaking is pure, unadulterated crap.

"We cannot tolerate a two-tiered jail system where the rich and the powerful receive special treatment." Yet this is the very thing that the Daily News is asking us to accept for a certain low-income group. A two-tiered system that rewards that certain group of law-breakers and has us, the middle-class workers, pay the bill.

Remember, Justice wears a blindfold for a reason. Unfortunately some people want that blindfold removed and special privileges for those who have not earned the right to be in this country in the first place.

What do you think?

The Gene Pool Could Use A Little Chlorine!

Ok, I admit that when I was younger I was known, from time to time, to do stupid things that seemed like a good idea at the time. Things like riding a bike with no hands, riding on the hoods of cars, etc. As I got older the stunts got sillier but even I, on my worst day, would not consider doing what this schmuck did.

Now acting dumb or stupid is not a bad thing per se. Some of us may not have been too bright at some time or another and what may have seemed like a good idea at the time was, in retrospect, just plain stupid. Later in life we look back and say, "Boy was I an idiot for doing that."

But this clown is my leading candidate for the "Darwin Award" for the year.

And if that is not bad enough he wants to be paid $10,000,000 (yes, that's ten million dollars) for being stupid enough to put his genitals in a mousetrap.

From the Washington Post:

'Jackass' Star Sued Over Radio Stunt
The Associated PressSunday, June 3,
2007; 5:11 AM
LOS ANGELES -- An actor is suing "Jackass" star Johnny
Knoxville, TV talk show host Jimmy Kimmel and radio personality Adam
Carolla, claiming he was never paid $10 million for doing a below-the-belt
stunt that left him severely injured. Perry Caravello claims Kimmel
never paid him for his work in the 2003 TV movie "Windy City Heat."
According to the suit, Knoxville also promised to pay him to promote the DVD
release of the film on Carolla's show last fall if he agreed to place his
genitals in a mousetrap.
"Plaintiff agreed to do so, and, much to his emotional
tranquility and to his physical harm, was severely injured when
the trap literally went on his manhood," the suit contended.
Caravello also was humiliated when clips of the incident, which he says were filmed
without his permission, made it to the Internet, his suit claims.
The suit, filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Knoxville and others,
alleges fraud, negligence and unjust enrichment.
The suit claims that Caravello signed a contract with Dakota
North Entertainment Inc., a company that Kimmel heads. But Kimmel, Knoxville and others never paid Caravello or gave him an accounting of profits and royalties
from DVD sales of "Windy City Heat," the suit claims.
It seeks a total of $10.5 million in damages.
Calls to representatives for Knoxville, Kimmel and Carolla were
not returned Saturday.

Hopefully, the judge will throw this case right out of court.

"Plaintiff agreed to do so..."

Where in the law does it say that a person has to pay someone else because that someone else doesn't have the common sense not to pull a stupid stunt like that?

It doesn't matter if this guy signed a contract or not. It doesn't matter if this was part of his job, what matters is: Where the hell was his common sense?

Most of us stopped using the "Steve told me to do it" defense by the age of twelve. Have we become so spoiled and used to being allowed to blame somebody else for our actions that we no longer have to take responsibility for the consequences of those actions?

Is this person to be rewarded for being so stupid?

If he is to be rewarded then I say he should be forced to spend whatever money is left over from the lawyers to put himself away because he is too stupid to be allowed to live amongst the general public.

What do you think?